Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education is all set to launch a pilot programme for nutrition supplement in girls' schools countrywide. The programme named "Nutrition supplement programme" for girl students was approved in a high-level meeting recently held under the chairmanship of the Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education, an official said here on Saturday.
Initially, he said the project would be launched in 10 districts at a cost of about Rs 900 million. Besides social protection strategy, the programme was aimed at improving nutritional status of enrolled girl students between the ages of five to 12 years in government girls' primary schools of the target districts, he said.
Official said that it would also increase enrolment and sustain attendance, create awareness emphasising healthy life style, females' education, public health and nutrition. He said it would also help reduce gender gap in school enrolment and contribute towards achieving one of the millennium development goals (MDGs) and other international commitments of the government for betterment of women and children.
Two backward districts from each of the provinces and one each from Azad Kashmir and Northern areas were selected for the pilot programme on the completion of which it would be evaluated from a 3rd party, official added. It was hoped that it would be further extended to 54 districts of the country, he said.
Under the scheme, he added that chronically poor households would be supported and their protection against destitution, food insecurity, exploitation and social exclusion avoided. Official said that appropriate feed comprising fortified milk, nutritious biscuits and nutrient juices would provide 600 calories to each target girl student. To a question about selected districts, he said Lakki Marwat and Mardan had been selected from NWFP while Badin and Tharparkar from Sindh.
Similarly, in the Northern Areas, Ghizer had been selected for it. The two districts from Punjab and Balochistan and one of Azad Kashmir would be finalised soon. Over 1,700 girls' primary schools with over 144,000 girl students would benefit from this pilot programme.